• Latest
  • Trending

NZ’s first MARC II V8 gets upgrades ahead of South Island Endurance season

September 7, 2021

Jones and Thomson back in action at Rally Hokkaido, finish fourth after hard-fought weekend

September 9, 2025

Ignite Motorsport Club set to fuel young kiwis’ passion for motorsport

September 9, 2025
Louis Sharp, Rodin Motorsport. FIA Formula 3 Championship - Round 10 - Monza, Autodromo Nazionale Monza, Monza, Italy.

Louis Sharp’s debut F3 Season ends with retirement in Monza

September 9, 2025

Evans/Schutte seal podium, Wood/Brooks P4 as Ojeda/Lucchitti triumph in Race 2 at The Bend in GT World Challenge Australia Series

September 9, 2025

Kiwi drivers Brendon Leitch and Chris Van Der Drift shine in Sepang’s Lamborghini Super Trofeo Asia Series Round 5

September 9, 2025

Josh Cooper wins Eastern Southland Car Club Championship

September 9, 2025

McLean, Mitchell and Leonard shine in dramatic SS Cup season opener at Ruapuna

September 9, 2025

Spa-Francorchamps delivers drama and mechanical woes as Scoular fights to top 20 finish

September 8, 2025

Heartbreak for Cormac Buchanan after crash in Catalunya

September 8, 2025

Hamlin wins from pole at Gateway as Van Gisbergen’s playoff battle takes another hit

September 8, 2025

Verstappen triumphs at Monza as Lawson endures gruelling Italian Grand Prix

September 8, 2025
Tuesday, September 9, 2025
VelocityNews
Be the first to know and subscribe for real-time updates on Kiwi drivers, events and much more!
Subscribe to New Alerts
  • International
    • Formula 1
    • Formula 2
    • Formula 3
    • Formula E
    • Esports
    • Super GT
    • Super Formula
    • TCR
    • WEC
    • GT
    • Porsche Carrera Cup
    • BTCC
    • DTM
    • IMSA
    • IndyCar
    • Road to Indy
    • NASCAR
    • WRC
    • MotoGP
    • Motorcycle Racing
    • Historic Racing
  • New Zealand
    • Toyota Formula Regional
    • Toyota GR86 Championship
    • Rally
    • Speedway
    • Drifting
    • Formula Ford
    • Formula First
    • TCR NZ
    • TransTasman V8 Series
    • V8 Utes
    • GT New Zealand Championship
    • GTRNZ
    • Central Muscle Cars
    • Pirelli Porsche
    • Mazda Racing Series
    • NZ Endurance Championship
    • NIERDC
    • SIERDC
    • Pro8 South Island Series
    • SsangYong Utes
    • Kartsport
    • NZ Historic Racing
    • NZ General
  • Australia
    • Supercars
    • Super2
    • Australian V8 Touring Car Series
    • Porsche Carrera Cup Australia
    • Porsche Sprint Challenge
    • S5000
    • Australian GT
    • TCR AU
  • Features
    • Features
    • Opinion
    • Profile
    • Race Cars
  • Circuit News
  • Velocity TV
  • Performance Cars
  • Jobs
    • Jobs
    • Post a Job
    • Job Dashboard
No Result
View All Result
VelocityNews
No Result
View All Result

NZ’s first MARC II V8 gets upgrades ahead of South Island Endurance season

by Zane Shackleton
September 7, 2021
in New Zealand, News, SIERDC
0

New upgrades to their MARC II V8 have Collins Motorsport buzzing about this year’s South Island Endurance Series.

Last year, the team purchased the Mustang-inspired chassis, and the car arrived on New Zealand shores in December.

Collins Motorsport debuted the car at the New Zealand Grand Prix in February. It finished third in the NZV8 feature race.

However, the car was bought primarily for endurance racing.

The MARC hasn’t been on a race track since May. But despite the long pause between hit-outs, the team have continued fine-tuning the car.

“The car has been a learning curve,” team owner Paul Collins told Velocity News. “There has been ongoing development to meet our expectations.

“We’ve done a bit to it; played around with the suspension geometry, spring rates, shock absorbers, and I think we are getting close to where we want it to be.

“We have also done a bit of engine tuning to the 5.2-litre Coyote motor, and that has seen a performance increase we are happy about.

“Our motor is now ten per cent more fuel efficient, so hopefully we can do just the one stop each race.”

One upgrade Collins is especially excited to see play out is a new telemetry system in the car.

Live, up-to-date data from the car is now reported back to the team in the pitlane, who can then feed any helpful information onto their drivers.

“The flash new telemetry system we have is probably our biggest improvement,” Collins said.

“We can now give drivers lap-by-lap data and monitor everything from tyre temperature to fuel burn.

“I reckon with a good engineer we could find at least a second per lap to what we were doing before.”

Image: Tayler Burke

Before they acquired the MARC, Collins Motorsport caught the country’s attention with its Ford Mustang GT-X, powered by a Roush Yates NASCAR engine.

But the team wanted to have a bigger focus on endurance racing.

Collins said he and the team initially considered buying a Porsche GT3 or a similar GT3 race car.

Yet, it was the unique MARC that appealed to the team.

Not only was there no other MARC in New Zealand, but it was less complex than a GT3 car, and it all-around suited the team a lot better.

The MARC is not as fast as the unrestricted GT3 cars it will be sharing the track with this year. But Collins understands that and says the team’s focus is on their class.

“We don’t have the power to win. The Marc is not a GT3 car.

“Our goal is to win our class.

“We are now at a point where we can be front runners in our class.

“But I think some people will be surprised to see where the car is now from where it was last season.”

A three-driver line-up will share the MARC’s reins this year.

Once again, the team will benefit from Paul Radisich’s experience and raw speed as one of their lead drivers.

“I expect Paul to be up the front. That old boy can still pedal,” Collins said.

Nick Ross and Sam Collins are the other two drivers confirmed for this year’s endurance season.

The team hopes to get some late pre-season testing in before loading the car onto the trailer and leaving it in the South Island.

Highlands Motorsport Park opens the South Island Endurance season on October 2.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact Us

© 2022 VelocityNews - Independent New Zealand and International Motorsport news.

error:
No Result
View All Result
  • International
    • Formula 1
    • Formula 2
    • Formula 3
    • Formula E
    • Esports
    • Super GT
    • Super Formula
    • TCR
    • WEC
    • GT
    • Porsche Carrera Cup
    • BTCC
    • DTM
    • IMSA
    • IndyCar
    • Road to Indy
    • NASCAR
    • WRC
    • MotoGP
    • Motorcycle Racing
    • Historic Racing
  • New Zealand
    • Toyota Formula Regional
    • Toyota GR86 Championship
    • Rally
    • Speedway
    • Drifting
    • Formula Ford
    • Formula First
    • TCR NZ
    • TransTasman V8 Series
    • V8 Utes
    • GT New Zealand Championship
    • GTRNZ
    • Central Muscle Cars
    • Pirelli Porsche
    • Mazda Racing Series
    • NZ Endurance Championship
    • NIERDC
    • SIERDC
    • Pro8 South Island Series
    • SsangYong Utes
    • Kartsport
    • NZ Historic Racing
    • NZ General
  • Australia
    • Supercars
    • Super2
    • Australian V8 Touring Car Series
    • Porsche Carrera Cup Australia
    • Porsche Sprint Challenge
    • S5000
    • Australian GT
    • TCR AU
  • Features
    • Features
    • Opinion
    • Profile
    • Race Cars
  • Circuit News
  • Velocity TV
  • Performance Cars
  • Jobs
    • Jobs
    • Post a Job
    • Job Dashboard

© 2022 VelocityNews - Independent New Zealand and International Motorsport news.